The Longest Night
by SemperSursum
Summary: "The answer's easy, Nick. I like you." She paused and took a deep breathe. "And I still do." NACY.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own JONAS.

* * *

**T h e L o n g e s t N i g h t**

"She's leaving."

Cold sweat rolled down his forehead and he could feel his curls sticking. His hands went rigid. He couldn't feel anything. He was frozen into place and numb all over. It took all of his energy to even ask his brother, "Why?"

After biting his lip and looking at their eldest brother for support, Joe Jonas finally spoke. "Stella just told me over the phone. Nick, you need to sit down first, okay?"

"She's leaving me– no, _us_– and you still want me to sit down when I could go to her house and beg her to stay? That's just nuts, even for you, Joe." He said through gritted teeth. He felt weak and strong at the same time. Actually, he felt nauseous as a thousand questions ran through his head. _Her? Leaving?_

Kevin held Nick by his shoulders before gently pushing him down the couch and sat down on the bright green beanbag instead. "It's not a long story, bro."

He started to pinch the bridge of his nose. It always calmed him down but without her gentle whispers, it simply just wasn't working.

"Before going to Los Angeles, she already received a letter from the University of Pennsylvania. Yeah, we know it's kind of early for her to get in but you know her. She's good in both academics and athletics. What school wouldn't want her?"

"Pennsylvania? That's like 163 miles away!" He stood up once again but one look from Kevin told him he had to get his butt glued on the couch immediately or he'll annoy the hell out of him. Since when has he acted this serious? Oh, yeah. Kevin's got a girlfriend and he's losing _his_.

Nick inwardly groaned. "Fine. Go on."

"Yeah, well, it's too good of an opportunity to pass up so she took it." Joe paused with that look on his face that told Nick he was struggling over what to say next.

"Wait, she took it before she went to Los Angeles? She knew she was leaving even before we…" That was it. He had to see her now. He needed an explanation. It needs to be from her and not from Joe. _How could she?_

He grabbed Kevin's car keys over the counter and got in his car without the eldest brother's permission. For now, he had more important matters to worry about than damaging the red vintage car. He didn't care if he went past the speed limit. All he knows is that he needed to get there. Fast.

* * *

"Sweetie, will you be fine packing all by yourself?"

"I'll be okay, mom." She gave her a small smile before she faced the almost filled box lying in front of her. A few more and she'll be done so she didn't mind when her mother excused herself to go upstairs and rest. She went over to the living room's small bookshelf. Half of what was in it was hers. They were all her favorites. A smile came over her lips as a small book caught her eyes.

_Peter Pan._

She remembered her father used to read this story for her when she was little. She felt a little sad at the memory of his father stroking her to bed but that didn't stop her from wiping the dust off the book.

A knock on her door made her drop the book she was holding. It was nearly midnight. Who would visit their household at this time of the night? She stood up thinking it was Stella but the loud sigh from the other side made her think otherwise.

"Nick? What are you doing here? It's late. You shouldn't be here." She was frantically asking questions with obvious answers. _He knows_. And she doesn't need this. Not right now, this'll only make leaving harder for her.

"We need to talk." For a moment, she felt a sudden surge of guilt through her.

"Okay, come on in." She stepped out to fully open the door for him but he didn't move.

"Can we go some place else? Just this once." His brown eyes pleaded for her to agree. And with a single nod from her, he took the liberty to close the door behind her and open the car door of the passenger seat. They buckled their seatbelts and he drove down the road, not caring where it might lead them.

* * *

"You do know Kevin's gonna freak out if he found out you stole his car, right?"

"I know but I can deal with that later." He lifted one hand from the steering wheel to hold hers. She squeezed his as if saying everything's gonna be okay. And that's what he exactly needed, her comfort before asking her the questions running all over his head.

He pulled over and the smell of the salty ocean breeze invaded their nostrils. It was comforting yet somewhat suffocating, just like how this confrontation might be.

"Why are you leaving?" He wanted to get that question out of the way first. Somehow, deep inside him, he was hoping it was just because of some trivial matter and that she was overreacting but that wasn't the case.

"UPenn's a good university, Nick. I couldn't ask for a greater place to finish my studies." She gave him a gentle smile before looking away.

"You know, the stars look beautiful tonight." He doesn't know where that came from. He was stalling and he shook his head.

"I wonder if the sky will look this beautiful in Pennsylvania. I used to count the stars whenever something's troubling me. Wanna try it?" They started counting but somewhere between 112 and 115, he gave up. What was he so afraid of anyway? Why was he putting off asking her?

"Mace, even before we were together, you knew you were going. Why'd you even bother with_… us…_ if you knew you were leaving?" He scrunched his eyebrows. He never liked struggling for words in front of her. He felt helpless when he did.

"The answer's easy, Nick. I like you." She paused and took a deep breathe. "And I still do."

"Then, why leave?"

"Nick, we're growing up. We can't always be together. You'd have to go out of the country for your tours and I can't. My family's expecting a lot from me. I can't let them down. I can't let my dad down."

He pulled her into a hug and stroked her brown hair. "You do know that I still don't get you, right?"

She tried to stifle a laugh and had to look up to see if he was serious. And seeing that he was, "I never knew we'd be together over the summer, Nick. It just happened. At first, I only saw you as a friend then spending a lot of time with you made me realize I wanted to be more." He kissed her forehead when she paused. She gently leaned into him and he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"I don't know. I wanted to tell you when summer was over and before senior year ended but being with you was just too perfect that I didn't have the courage to do so. You could say that I was perfectly in love with you." She added the last part as a whisper. She knew he heard it when this time; he placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.

"The fact is; I love you and we'd have to go to separate ways some time. And that time has come, Nick." Her eyes started to water and she blamed it on the saltiness of the air but he knew better.

"I didn't want to tell you because of this. I might not have the courage to leave, to let go of this… you." The tears fell down her eyes and with he wiped it away with his thumb. She stopped sobbing and they both fell silent. Clearly, trying to wrap their minds on the thoughts of being apart.

* * *

"You're right, Mace. We'd have to… but it's just so hard to let go. You're the only girl who made me feel like life's worth it and love does exist. But we have to." Despite of what he was saying, he pulled her closer.

They spent the rest of the night recalling memories. Some dear to them that almost brought them to tears and some too funny to pass up. But sleep finally caught on the two.

"You're the only one I'm so sure of. You know that, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"And we'll always find one another it it's meant to be." He smiled seeing at how she was battling her sleepiness.

"Mhmm-hmmm."

"And I love you too, Macy." He whispered to her ear before they fell asleep at the back of car.

* * *

"Hey, Mace. Wake up."

His husky morning voice woke her up. She was still a bit groggy from sleeping late. When she finally fully opened her eyes, colors ranging from yellow to red and a little bit of violet clouded her vision.

"It's beautiful, Nick."

"Not nearly as beautiful as you though." That earned him a soft punch and quick peck on the lips.

"I'll miss this." Her voice was cracking but he didn't mind.

"I'll miss you."

"Enough with the cheesiness, Nicholas Jerry Lucas." She giggled and kissed him one more time.

"By the way, Mace, when's your flight?"

"Holy cheese!"

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**A/N:** Okay, it's been a while since I wrote a **NACY** Fic and updated _Baby, You're Invincible_. I'm so sorry! I was caught up in _Seddie_'s love-hate thing. It was sweet. Anyway, I watched _The Vampire Diaries_ yesterday and one song from it inspired me to write this. I love the storyline on _Caroline_ and _Tyler_. But Tyler left. :( I was watching _ForWood_ videos on _Youtube_ when I heard the song_ "The Longest Night" by Howie Day_ and I fell in love with it. Hope you guys like it. :D


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